There is no question that for many years golf has been a very popular sport in both the U.S., as well as in Europe. The exploits of Tiger Woods have become legendary and there is no question that television ratings in the U.S. are at a very high level when Tiger Woods is in contention. Rather recently, golf has become more popular in other areas in the world such as South America due to Angel Cabrera winning the 2009 Masters as well as in South Korea, and other parts of Asia due to Y. E. Yang winning the 2009 PGA Championship.
While golf is very popular with more and more individuals learning the game, the game itself can be quite frustrating when it is not played properly. This is mainly due to a golfer who does not address the ball properly as well as not utilizing the proper swing plane to strike the ball in a manner allowing the ball to travel in a relatively straight path. Due to this fact, a multitude of products have been developed to assist a novice golfer as well as a more accomplished player to perfect their game. These products include the use of a specialized mat which would allow the player to learn to strike the ball properly. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,815, to Sutton; U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,764, to Thomas; D559,344 to Walsh; as well as Canadian Patent No. 2,114,928 to Hanson describe use of various mats for the purpose of assisting a golfer in perfecting their swing. While these references do describe the use of a mat provided with a recommended golf swing path, there is no inclusion of a path that the golfer can use during the down swing to gauge whether the golf club is in the proper swing plane. Additionally, these mats are not usually transportable and cannot be used for both right handed and left handed golfers. Finally, these mats are not provided with alignment bars allowing a player to correctly align their body to the golf shot in the most natural manner used by professionals in their pre-shot routine.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0176595, to Hubley; U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,613 to Dubois; U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,937 to Regan; U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,739, to Kabbany; U.S. Design Pat. No. D272,379 to Cachola; and U.S. Design Pat. No. D239,726, to Wintering all are directed to golf stance and ball alignment practice aids as well as golf swing training devices utilizing various alignment bars. However, none of these references can be used to perfect a golfer's swing as well as to properly align the golfer's body.